Tubu Daza

The Daza are part of the Tubu people, who for centuries have inhabited the Tibesti Mountains and the arid regions around them, in the heart of the Sahara. Together with the Teda, with whom they share origin and closely related languages, the Daza spread further south, occupying areas such as Kanem and Bahr el Ghazal in present day Chad.

With the arrival of Islam in the region, the people adopted the Muslim faith, which became intertwined with clan organization and with marriage and justice customs. The borders drawn in the twentieth century divided the people among different countries, but clan ties and the Dazaga language continue to unite the Daza across those divisions.

Organized into patrilineal clans that govern marriage, the ownership of wells and pastures, and the resolution of conflicts, the Daza raise camels, goats, cattle, donkeys, and sheep, moving according to rainfall and available pasture. Where the land around oases makes it possible, some settle to grow dates, grains, and vegetables, and the extraction of salt and natron supplements their livelihood in certain regions, also being used in trade with neighboring peoples.

Clan honor and loyalty among relatives guide nearly every important decision in life, from marriage to the way old disputes between families are resolved. Within a given oasis, land, wells, and trees usually have recognized owners, and each family knows which resources it has a right to.

The Daza are Sunni Muslims, and Islamic law shapes central aspects of community life, from marriage between close relatives, permitted by the Quran and practiced by various Daza clans, to the way disputes are resolved. A small portion of the people still holds on to traditional religious practices alongside the Islamic faith, especially in more remote areas.

The Islamic faith is not merely a personal religion but part of the people’s collective identity: belonging to the clan and being Muslim go hand in hand, and this fusion gives religion a weight that goes beyond individual practice, also shaping how the community views those who arrive from outside with another faith.

The Dazaga language does not yet have the Bible translated, and only small portions of Scripture have reached the people. Since most Daza communication is oral, audio recordings with Bible stories and messages about God circulate in some places, and a film about the life of Jesus has also been produced in Dazaga, but the reach of all this material is limited given the vastness of the territory where the people live.

To be Daza is to be Muslim: the Islamic faith is interwoven with clan identity, and abandoning it is seen as breaking with one’s own family and history. Nomadism and life scattered across the central Saharan desert make contact with any Christian community rare, and the near total absence of the written Word in Dazaga leaves the people without their own means of learning the message of Jesus.

Life in the desert demands resilience in the face of drought, water scarcity, and the distances that separate families and clans from basic health and education services. There is a great need for access to resources that make life in the Sahara more stable and secure for the coming generations.

In the spiritual realm, the Daza people lack the complete Word of God in their own language and any local Christian community to turn to. Anyone who came to follow Jesus would face nearly complete isolation, with no brothers and sisters in the faith nearby to walk alongside.